John Logan’s Red is a one-act play about American abstract impressionist painter Mark Rothko.

In 1958, he was commissioned to paint a series of murals for the elite Four Seasons restaurant in New York’s Seagram building. However, in a surprising move, he pulled out from what was deemed a very lucrative contract.

Logan presents a fictional account of the reasons behind that decision through a rich discourse on art, consumerism, and the human condition.

LOOK: JC Santos, Bart Guingona to star in the theater play ‘RED’

The Necessary Theater brings back this award-winning production with theater veteran Bart Guingona serving as both director and actor. Bart reprises his role as Mark Rothko, a character he played in the production’s 2013 run. Playing opposite him as Rothko’s apprentice Ken is award-winning theater, TV, and film actor JC Santos. JC also serves as the play’s producer.

READ: EXCLUSIVE: JC Santos excited to produce his first play ‘Red’

Staged at the PETA Theater, the intimacy of the venue adds to the engagement of the audience. Set inside Rothko’s Bowery studio, it gives the audience an insider’s view of the artist at work. Designed as a working studio, the audience is pulled into the scene as they follow Rothko and Ken at work: moving paintings around, mixing paint, and actually painting over an entire blank canvas.

One of the play’s highlights is the scene where the artists stand side by side, painting an entire canvas red. This draws the audience in, putting them in the middle of the creation of the artwork.

“What do you see?” asks Rothko of Ken in the beginning of the first act.

The play delves into the relationship between Rothko and his art. Rothko prods Ken to see beyond the surface and urges him to engage with the elements of the artwork, to listen to it and to feel it “pulsating”. They debate on a variety of ideas, even getting into a heated exchange on the nuances of the color red.

As the story goes on, Rothko also shares his ideas on what art is and his disdain for the emerging pop art movement of that time. He aches for the past, where fine art was revered and looked up to.

“Where’s the discernment? Where’s the arbitration that separates what I like from what I respect, what I deem worthy, what has…listen to me now…significance,” Rothko questions.

Faced with the new generation of artists such as Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol who challenged the traditions of fine art, Rothko lets slip his vulnerability, feeling that the thing he fears is on the horizon. Although he knows that change is inevitable, Rothko struggles to be relevant and remains resistant to change, even fearing it.

Rothko also struggled with choosing between his passion for art and commercial gain. He had to admit that he had also come to a point where he himself was falling prey to that which he opposed.

“There is only one thing I fear in life, my friend… one day the black will swallow the red,” he revealed.

Alongside the relationship between the artist and his art, there also exists the nuances of the relationship between Rothko and Ken. They seem to represent opposing sides: mentor versus apprentice, master versus neophyte, old school ideas versus a new generation’s take on things.

The 90-minute play is made even more impactful by the dynamic between the two actors. There is a push-and-pull between the characters that develops throughout the play.

A 40-year theater veteran, Bart projects a masterful presence as the eccentric Rothko. His hubris and narcissism is evident in his portrayal in the first three scenes, as is his vulnerability and fear in the final scene.

In contrast, JC’s portrayal of Ken serves as the perfect foil to Bart’s Rothko. Even after his three-year hiatus from the stage, JC effectively shows his character’s progression from one scene to the next. Ken brings a fresh perspective to the conversation, inserting anecdotes that supports the idea of a viewer having a personal connection with art. From a wide-eyed, impressionable student, Ken grows into a man with firm convictions, ready to challenge and question his mentor.

READ: JC Santos returns to theater with ‘Red’

The Socratic dialogue between mentor and student is intense, the exchange quick and purposeful. It does, however, lend itself to the risk of alienating its audience if only because the discussion assumes that the audience has knowledge and understanding of art history and its proponents.

Nevertheless, the intellectual exchange also urges the audience to question their own stand on issues such as smart-shaming, art production, and change. In a time when an influx of information threatens to overwhelm and pull people in different directions, Red poses a challenge to think, to engage, to question. It is a call to weigh in on what is happening and to make a stand.

Red is staged by The Necessary Theater at the PETA Theater Center in New Manila, Quezon City. On a limited 10-show run, it only has a handful shows remaining: June 16 at 8 pm, June 17 at 3 pm and 8 pm, and June 18 at 3 pm and 8 pm.